Leisurely break
by Lil-Samuu
Summary: Piece of fluff oneshot featuring Noishe, Lloyd and Colette. Set after the game when they're on the journey to collect up all the exspheres. Pointless fluffy nonsense.


Post-game one-shot bit of fluff featuring Lloyd, Colette and Noishe. Set on a summery day while they're on their journey to collect up all the exspheres. Completely pointless fluff. ("Bliss" timeline one-shot.)

This fic is rated highly to be on the safe side. There is nudity in it but nothing that adult in nature, they've just been swimming.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia, Namco own it I believe. I'm just an obsessed fan who can't stop writing fluff about it. :)

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They might be a bit daft sometimes but, Noishe decided, he liked his little pack. They'd found a peaceful spot by a stream, a secluded, tranquil place, and had decided to camp there for a few days, to have a short break. 

Lloyd and Colette had curled up in the sun together and were taking a little afternoon nap. Noishe smiled at them and waggled his ears and tail happily. They'd had lots of fun earlier, splashing about in the stream. They'd told him it wasn't fair that he was splashing them both because he could make bigger splashes than they could. He'd given them his special 'who, me?' grin which caused them to grin at each other then back at him and then gang up on him, working as a team to splash him.

He'd swum off to another part of the stream after a while to let them have some time alone. He'd spotted a big fish swimming around earlier which, if he could catch it, would make an excellent supper. They'd had fish for dinner the previous night as well, caught from the stream and cooked over the fire with a few vegetables and a light sauce. It had been beautiful, melt-in-the-mouth tender, and he wanted more. He had to admit his human family were really rather good at cooking over a campfire now.

Without a doubt they were his family, despite the fact that he was a different species to them. He'd adopted them into his pack. A small one but one that he was proud of. They weren't as good at pouncing as he was and they couldn't run nearly as fast as him but they had some skills that he admired and besides, part of the reason for having a pack was that each member contributed their own skills.

He gave a little happy bark and curled himself around them. They made content noises in their sleep and snuggled up to him. He wagged his tail, tickling Lloyd, and the young swordsman giggled and frowned in his sleep. Noishe grinned, it was fun to play silly games with those two.

When he'd returned, empty pawed, from his fishing trip he'd found the pair stretched out in the sunshine, letting the warmth of the sun dry their bodies after their swim. They had looked up as he walked up to them but hadn't moved until, grinning, he'd shook his fur dry vigorously, splashing them with cold drops of water. That had caused them to leap up, yelling, a reaction he always found amusing.

He leaned his head over and grabbed hold of the corner of a blanket in his teeth. Carefully, gently, he dragged it over until it was covering the dozing couple. The sun was beautifully warm but he didn't want them to get cold which they might with no fur on their bodies and none of the fabric garments they usually wore on either. He felt sorry for them sometimes when they went to cold places, his fur usually kept him warm, unless they went to extremely cold places like a few spots around Flanoir, but they didn't have any. Well, apart from a patch on their heads.

He nuzzled Colette's hair, noticing what a nice job Lloyd had done of washing it earlier. Those two liked to groom each other it seemed. Not that that was surprising, it was a nice thing to do for someone you cared about.

Gently and delicately he took a few strands of Colette's hair between his teeth and began to groom her hair to his standards. Lloyd did a pretty good job but he was no Arshis. Colette murmured something in her sleep but didn't bat a hand at him to stop so he continued.

Suddenly he stopped, his keen eyes spotting the large fish he'd seen earlier that day swimming towards them. He leapt up and moved to the edge of the stream. Slowly, patiently, he waited for it to swim closer to him. Then he lunged at it, managing to grab it tightly in his jaws. He'd leaned quite far forward however, and that caused him to tumble into the water, the fish still captured between his sharp teeth.

Never mind, it was only a bit of water he thought as he jumped out of the stream and padded over to the still dozing couple, dropping the fish on the ground before shaking his coat out for the second time that day.

He laughed as he received a similar response to the one he'd gotten earlier, an indignant yelping as his friends woke up and complained about the cold drops of water that were flying at them. He put on his best 'I didn't really mean to do that' face and nudged the fish in their direction as an apology. Colette clapped her hands happily and Lloyd grinned at him, moving to pat him on the back and scritch him behind the ears.

"Thanks Noishe, although we could have done without that shower," the young swordsman laughed, patting the dog-like creature between the ears one more time before moving over to their collection of bags and digging through them, looking for some clean clothes.

Colette moved to do the same although, Noishe noticed, she picked out some of Lloyd's clothes and not her own. The arshis grinned as, when he'd finished dressing himself, Lloyd noticed Colette wearing one of his shirts which was too big for her along with a pair of his shorts and blushed. He told her that she looked cute which seemed to please her and he was rewarded with a light, tender kiss.

The couple moved to another bag and began to select items to cook with the fish. Noishe wagged his tail as Colette fished out a biscuit and threw it to him. He caught it and crunched it up happily. Then he settled himself beside the fire the swordsman and the angel were building to cook over.

The world seemed so peaceful as the sun lazily set, hiding itself away behind the tree tops. Noishe looked over at Lloyd and nodded approvingly at the way he was skilfully preparing the fish, getting it ready to cook. That was a skill Noishe didn't have and was one that he admired. Colette was busy getting food ready as well, preparing a few vegetables. She started to softly sing a song, one that Sheena had taught her when they were on the quest to reunite the two worlds, something that seemed so long ago now although it had happened a relatively short time ago.

Noishe thumped his tail against the ground and waggled his ears before moving to sit up. He had a playful expression on his face as he leaned his head over and started to groom Lloyd.

"Heeeeey! I'm trying to cook here!" the swordsman protested, trying to wiggle away. That only encouraged Noishe who effortlessly managed to pin Lloyd down. Colette giggled and moved to try and get Noishe to leave Lloyd alone.

That wasn't any fun though Noishe thought as he grinned at the little angel. The blonde recognised that grin as a playful challenge and made a gesture to let him know that she'd decided not to try and stop him after all. Noishe nodded and resumed grooming Lloyd's hair.

"Colette, help!" Lloyd whined, still trying to wriggle out of the dog-like creature's grasp.

"If I try and stop him he'll only pin me down as well," Colette shrugged in a defeated way. Then suddenly her face lit up as she had an idea. She dug around in the food bag again and found another biscuit.

"Noishe, quick, fetch!" she cheered as she threw the biscuit in a direction away from Lloyd.

Leisurely, keeping a paw on Lloyd's back, Noishe stood up, stretched and yawned. Then he loped over to the biscuit and snapped it up happily. Once the treat had been finished he stood still for a moment, watching the peaceful scene in front of him. The sunset was turning the sky a gorgeous colour and the fire was giving off a soft, warm glow. Colette had sat back down next to Lloyd and was resting her head on his shoulder, nuzzling him affectionately. The swordsman wrapped an arm around the angel and they paused for a moment before returning to cooking.

Noishe smiled and padded back over to the fire, laying down beside it and resting his head on his paws. Those two had won for now. He wouldn't try again for a bit, he wanted some of the food they were cooking, but after dinner he'd pounce on them, pin them down and groom them until they admitted he was the boss. He grinned and swished his tail happily.

"He's plotting something," Lloyd said softly to Colette, nodding at the arshis.

"It's a good job I've got these then isn't it?" the blonde replied, fishing some biscuits out of her pocket and waving them in Noishe's direction before putting them back and turning her attention back to the vegetables.

Bother, she was being clever and sneaky. Noishe frowned. He'd have to think carefully and come up with a plan to rescue those biscuits from Colette's pocket _and_ show those two he was boss. This, he thought, was going to take him at least until dinner was ready. He needed to come up with a foolproof plan, something that couldn't possibly fail to work. A plan that would also allow him to have a portion of the dinner the couple were cooking now.

His eyes lit up as he began to think of a plan. He did his best puppy dog eyes look at Colette and grinned as she threw him another biscuit. This evening, he decided, was going to be fun.


End file.
